The man on permanent shift

If you thought controversy followed Sania Mirza like a devoted puppy, then Shoaib Malik's cricket career moves on a 24x7 cycle of bad press. Not that it's all invented by bored tabloid hacks looking for instant fame. After the 2003 Test series against Bangladesh, the then captain Rashid Latif is believed to have written in his report asking the Pakistan Cricket Board to keep an eye on Malik as he kept slightly dubious company.

Sania Mirza

In 2005, he was fined around PRs 200,000 for throwing a domestic T20 game. Five years later, he is banned to "disciplinary breaches" on the tour of Australia. Even though he was highly praised by the late Bob Woolmer for having "tactical sharpness" and a good cricketing brain, his captaincy has always been a man management failure. He was replaced as captain in 2009 because team management formally reported that he was "aloof and a loner".

Malik has always been two people-more than once and the Siddiquis know how. In 2002, he went up to a wire services journalist and wanted the news of his June wedding be publicised. When it appeared in the Arab News, he thanked the journalist, saying "the girl's side is very happy". Two years later, on a Geo TV programme Ek Din Geo Ke Saath, he was asked about his female fan following, and replied, "I'm already married to an Indian based in Jeddah."

Shoaib Malik

Mirza may just be the cache that Malik is looking for in social status and individual respectability. The couple knew each other for several years but have grown closer from November onwards. Dropped from his team in Australia, Malik sought permission to leave his group and watch tennis regularly. Back then, no one knew why. As early as January, he was asking an Indian girl now settled in Karachi, about what life in Pakistan was like.

Even if all is well, it is not where Mirza will head in any case. Dubai is to be her home. In 2008, Malik won a tournament for his Dubai club in Canada; the prize included a residency visa for the UAE and an apartment in Ajman. It is said the couple will live in the Palm Jumeirah.

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